She's Just A Bit Rebellious
by Footinmouthed
Summary: It's Gwen's turn to be the hero. She doesn't suspect Peter would be too thrilled about it.
1. Reckless

**Depressing as it is, I don't own Spiderman or any of its characters.**

Gwen's her own definition of reckless. She's recklessly sad and recklessly angry and recklessly risking her own life. There's so much – _too much_ – going in her life that she tries to recklessly sweep it under the carpet. Of course, it doesn't work.

She's recklessly sad. She doesn't know how to feel about her father's death. She's so logical that she can't see how being sad would help her heal. She misses her father like crazy but she doesn't give herself time to dwell on it. She buries herself in the Debate Team and her new internship at Oscorp but it's not enough. Something's missing.

She supposes she's recklessly sad about Peter's leaving her but sadness is that type of emotion where you just can't breathe because it hurts too much. Peter's leaving her does not have that effect on her. She cannot breathe. Period. As much as she's tried, she's shut down. (Her friends have noticed it, too. She's become more and more silent around them and less and less involved. She's slipping away from reality). No, this isn't sadness. It's not even anguish. It's not anything, it's just… Nothing. That's how and what she feels after he's left.

She _is_ recklessly angry with him, though. Him and her father combined. She's developed a hypothesis that all men are stupid because they try to protect the girl they love (her heart skips a beat here; she knows Peter used to love her and that makes her smile). They don't understand that she's more than capable of taking care of herself and staying out of harm's way. She's not a breakable doll, for crying out loud!

Of course, this anger gets her nowhere. She needs to be channeling this sadness and anger and absolute mess of emotions into something more constructive.

She gets the idea when she's finally brave enough to venture into her father's closet. The smell is so like her father. Crisp and soft with a trace of spice. She doesn't break down because it makes no logical sense to do so. Her shaky fingers reach out and stroke her father's suit before they recoil quickly: it's becoming too much for her to deal too fast. She sits down on the carpeted floor and lets the smell overpower her as she closes her eyes. All the sadness and anger melts away as the first tears slip out of her eyes (logic has nothing on her emotions sometimes) and she imagines her father hugging her and kissing her forehead and promising her that he'll be safe.

Her father's broken promises – why can't Peter?

But her father's kept promises, too. She begged him to keep Peter safe when she saw him for the last time – she didn't tell her own father to stay safe or that she loved him. Heck, there was so much she wanted to say to him but couldn't: There was this one time where she snuck off to the movies with this boy when her father said she couldn't. There was a stolen kiss on the rooftop that she forgot to tell her daddy about and there was the long overdue sorry for keeping Peter's identity a secret and lying to her own father. Her own flesh and blood. (She knows she'd lie again in a heartbeat to her father because she still can't tell her mother about Peter's alter ego).

Time has slipped away from her and she opens her eyes with a start when she hears the front door banging closed and voices filling the house. Her mother and brothers have returned. She gets up, and in her haste, bangs her head. Rubbing it sorely, she picks up the box that fell to the ground and freezes.

Inside is her father's police radio, beeping with life. Her fingers wrap around the device in a haze before she hears her mother call her name. She quickly returns everything into place and tucks the radio into her pocket.

She's out the door just as her mother turns around. "Everything okay, honey?"

She yells out a hasty: "Yes, mom," before rushing to her room as the gears in her head start turning.

* * *

She can tell that Peter is thoroughly surprised that she isn't trying to follow him and pin him down to get answers. In fact, she's kind of been avoiding him.

Ms. Ritter's English class usually means she'd _pointedly_ look away from him when he enters the classroom. This time, her head's ducked down shyly and almost abashedly and she can feel Peter drilling holes into the back of her head.

She ignores him.

She doesn't try to glare at him or talk to him or catch his eye or anything. She just keeps her head down because she's quite a loudmouth and she's sure that one wrong word to Peter would ruin her whole plan.

She's animatedly chatting with Mary Jane during lunch. The two of them had formed a queer type of friendship when Gwen had complemented Mary Jane's (pink, shiny) shoes that one time during some recess in kindergarten.

She knows Peter's behind her. It had kind of become her habit to corner him during lunch and make him talk, and she sensed that Peter had quite enjoyed it, too. At least, he'd never try to scamper off during lunchtime.

She doesn't approach him today, and she knows he's shocked.

Mary Jane's blabbing about some new gossip – "Have you heard that Tina hooked up with Sam? I mean, honestly… Whore, anyone?" – and Gwen's pretending to listen. She's actually straining to hear what Peter's saying and only faintly catches his rhythmic breathing instead. What does it say about her that she doesn't mind?

Then both girls are easily and eagerly chatting with one another, the boy behind Gwen forgotten for the moment. They are both surprised when a gentle cough interrupts their conversation.

Gwen's (lanky, shy, brown-haired, blue-eyed, gorgeous, loving, breathtaking, idiotic) guy was standing there and to his right was another brunette boy whom she had never seen before. Both girls were staring at Peter expectedly and Peter stood there for a second before his eyes widened and he rubbed the back of his neck (it took all of Gwen's willpower not to swoon).

"This is, ah, Harry. And… yeah. He just moved here and all. And this is MJ and t-this, this is… Gwen. Yeah. So, yeah."

Gwen's smiling at Peter and turns around to see Mary Jane's reaction. She's smiling at Harry. Gwen raises her eyebrows before she turns to Harry.

"It's nice to meet you. You'll love it here, it's a great place." She shakes Harry's hand and laughs as she realizes he's half distracted by Mary Jane. She glances at Peter and realizes that the corner of his mouth has also been upturned. They are both amused by their friends' mutual attraction.

MJ, to Gwen's sudden horror, offers to tour Harry around the school, leaving her and Peter standing in the middle of the courtyard, slightly confused and awkward.

Gwen's swaying on her feet and Peter is wringing his hands together. It can't help but remind her of the time Peter asked her out, and she's smiling before she realizes it.

"What?" Peter asks, catching her quick smile.

"Oh, nothing, I was just…" She bites her lip. "Do you remember the time you, ah, first asked me out?"

His blush is priceless. "Yeah, pretty much the stupidest I'd ever acted, so, pretty hard to forget."

She lets out a beautiful laugh and he smiles lazily at her, his arm coming up to rub his elbow.

They're both staring at each other, quite intoxicated by the other's presence, and Gwen is the first one to break it because she knows she's about to blurt out something stupid.

"I, um. Class. Yes. So, I'll be off. But I'll see you soon."

And she leaves a flustered and confused Peter Parker behind.

* * *

She's made sure everyone's in bed and sleeping. Nobody would hear her leave, this way. It's out through the balcony and walking down twenty-two flights of stairs (why couldn't she have a biocable? She thinks everyone should) and she's terribly excited. And nervous as well, this is the first time she's doing something like this.

Her hair's tied into a ponytail and she's pulled on a mask to cover her face. She's wearing all black and her father's radio is attached to her hip.

She begins her descent down, all the while waiting for news about a Spiderman or a crime.

She hears one pretty quickly – there's a robbery that's happening in 54th and 7th and she's already on her way.

She's in her car and driving to the scene, shaking. She's about to stop a robbery.

She'd never thought that her Karate lessons would ever come in handy. She thought it was just her father being really paranoid about someone hurting her and that his enrolment in this class would not lead to any real uses. Now, she's very thankful.

She takes one hand off the wheel to feel the side of her hip that doesn't have a radio: there's a gun attached just in case. She hopes she doesn't have to use it.

She's out of her car and shaking now: this is all so new to her. She doesn't know if she goes in with a punch line or if she waits for police backup or if she just tries to take them down one by one. She figures that she might start by trying to spot where they are.

She nears the café that they are supposed to be in, and she waits for a few minutes.

Nothing.

She's standing there and the thought that Spiderman has already taken them out is plaguing her thoughts, leaving an odd type of bitter taste in her mouth. She really hopes not.

Just as she's about to give up, she spots shadows moving through the alley next to the café.

That must be them.

She's swift in following them because she doesn't want her nerves to kick in at an odd and inconvenient time.

They're big, buff guys but they seem dumb enough: she can easily take them down. It's with a swift kick to the first man's knee that all three turn towards her.

It's easy enough, she finds with surprise. They don't have skill, they just have a lot of brute force.

She's quickly taking them down, one by one, and she realizes how Peter must feel. The satisfaction of being able to do the right thing is exhilarating.

She sees a flash of blue and red and leaves before Peter and the cops can catch her.

She's back in her car and back at home in her bed and she's smiling so smugly to herself: she could get used to this.


	2. It's A Rather Awkward Confrontation

**I still own absolutely no part of Spiderman...**

She's exhausted the next day in school. Her arm is sore and she can barely move her shoulder. She still drags herself out of bed and onto the breakfast table, then into her mundane classroom.

Peter's sitting behind her during chemistry class and she's relieved to see him looking unharmed. This might just be the first day he goes without getting a scratch on his body and it makes her feel amazing inside.

She also likes how stunned he looks at the fact that he feels fine.

Class starts and Gwen's paying attention to Ms. Ritter (and her sore arm – taking notes is getting tedious) and Peter clears his throat. She ignores him, feeling slightly smug that the tables are finally turned: she's the one that's refusing to talk to him. He waits for a moment before clearing his throat again and by the feeling of his breath at the back of her neck, she knows that he's leaned forward.

She turns her head the tiniest fraction to acknowledge him and he whispers, "Sore arm?"

"Yeah, uh, slept wrong," she whispers back, keeping her eye on the teacher.

"Mmhmm." He's quiet for some time before he asks again, "So, you heard of the robbery last night?"

"Vaguely, yeah. Some masked girl… or guy… came and took them out. Must be weird for Spiderman."

"Yeah, I don't think the person's gonna show up again. It was a very one-timed thing if you ask me."

She lets out a soft hum in response and ignores him for the rest of the class.

She's walking to her locker when he catches up with her and grasps her by the arm.

She pulls away roughly, exclaiming, "Ouch! Peter, that was my sore arm."

"Yeah, okay." And he starts to push her sleeve up.

She looks scandalized, standing in the middle of the hallway with Peter pushing her sleeve up her arm. "What are you doing?"

She tries to jerk away from him and he is persistent. He stops when it's almost fully up her arm.

"Doesn't look like you've slept wrong to me. Looks more like a bruise that you get from a punch."

She freezes, pulling her sleeve down. "Yeah, brothers, you know…"

He looks at her, long and hard. He opens his mouth a few times but nothing comes out. Finally, he lowers his gaze to the floor.

"Whatever you're up to… Stop. There's a reason I'm staying away from you. Be safe, ok?"

She's stiffened and she's glaring at Peter. "Let's not talk about that, yeah?"

"Gwen, just… Be safe…"

She walks away.

* * *

Gwen's seething. She can't stand the fact that Peter's trying to tell her what to do and what not to do. That's for her to decide. She can't do anything about him staying away form her. It was his body, he could keep it as far away from hers as he liked. But what _she_ does was solely up to her, and he shouldn't be able to have any say in it.

(She knows what she's doing is a subconscious way of connecting to Spiderman.)

She's pulling on her attire for the night and making sure her family is asleep, half consumed by anger (her logic is scolding her at this point) and hence doing a quite sloppy job of being quiet.

She's halfway out her window when there's a knock at her door.

She freezes.

She grabs the nearest hoodie (it's purple and fluffy) and throws it on, yelling a hasty "Come in!"

She smiles at Howard and he sits on her bed, playing with his fingers. An awkward silence fills the room.

"So. Gwen. Broke up with Peter, I see."

"…That was three months ago."

"Yup, yup. I'm still getting with the times. And, um, still at Oscorp."

"Are you going somewhere with this? Because I have somewhere to be…"

He looks at her sharply. "Where?"

"Just… Meeting MJ for some coffee…"

"At eleven at night?"

"It's least crowded at the coffee shop then, actually, you'll find it really shocking…"

He sighs. "Cut the crap, Gwen. We both know where you're going. Now, you can keep lying to me about your superhero ex-boyfriend and your stupid attempt to stop those robbers or I can tell Mom."

She's half tempted to whine and call him a tattletale but she's more paralyzed by shock.

"How do you…"

"You're not exactly discrete. I had to cover for you last time, you know? Mom came up to check on you and I had to tell her I got in trouble at school for failing my test. She forgot all about you. You're welcome, by the way."

She's just gaping. He gives her a half-smirk and looks down at his lap. She notices his face fall.

"What's wrong?"

"Why are you doing this?" He doesn't let her answer. "Is it because of Dad? Do you think this will make you closer to him? Because it won't. All that'll happen is you'll end up in trouble. Dad didn't want this for you."

She winced. "It's not – "

"Then is it Peter? He's your ex. Your ex, Gwen. Mourn like a normal girl. We have chocolate-chip ice cream in the fridge. Knock yourself out, really."

"It's not…"

"Then what's it for, Gwen? Don't you remember how scared we were when Dad used to come home late, all bloody and beat up? That's gonna be you and I don't know what you're trying to do to us."

She's looking at his face before moving closer to him. "I'm not going to die, Howard."

He's sighing and fiddling with the hem of his hoodie. "Yes you are."

"No, I'm not…"

There's a silence that fills the room and she looks at his face. It's an odd type of resignation, an acceptance, almost. The way she used to feel when her Dad would come home late and when Peter insisted that it was his job to stop Dr. Connors.

She hates what she's doing.

He looks up at her. "I'll cover for you. Just be careful, ok?"

He doesn't wait for a response as he walks out of her room.

* * *

She goes down the fire escape with a muddled mind and a heavy heart.

Gwen's formed a type of routine of getting to the smaller robberies because Spiderman would focus on the bigger stuff. She refuses to be caught on tape or anywhere else because she's paranoid that he'll find out. She knows he's not going to be pleased.

Spiderman's forming a type of routine where he tries to catch this mystery figure, but Gwen's too quick for him (she thrills at that).

She's getting worried that Peter might notice, though. She's coming with newer and fresher bruises to school every day and it's stirring up some rumors. The one she particularly likes is that she and Flash usually get into fights because he refuses to do his work (he's still sore that she told everyone that he needed a tutor) and she smirks to Flash about it. It toughens up his appearance, apparently. There are other rumors of varying amusement, but some of them strike a chord in her. The one she just can't stand is that people claim she's been self-harming in order to cope with the idea of her father's death.

She won't lie; she's considered it a few times but the only things keeping her going are Peter (imagine what he'd say…) and her logic.

She makes a point not to run to the rescue during school hours because Peter would notice and she still needs to maintain that perfect attendance.

Not much has changed, really.

She's becoming quite good friends with Harry. Now that he's decided to follow MJ around like a lost puppy, she has no choice but to get used to him.

Harry Osborne is Norman Osborne's son and she would have completely avoided him if not for the fact that he didn't want anything to do with his father, either. He's got this charming (yet surprisingly vacant) expression on his face and it's easy to get along with him. He's funny and smart (she likes that) but the only thing she can't stand about him is that he's best pals with Peter.

She's trying to avoid Peter as much as she can, so this doesn't go well with her.

He's kind of come out of hibernation and is actively trying to talk to her and catch her. She suspects he knows what's going on.

She thinks he might be using Harry as an excuse to talk to her and MJ, and eventually to get her alone.

She knows she looks suspicious to him – she refused to come near him when a week ago, all she wanted was a chance to look at him.

She understands Peter a lot better, now. The way he refuses to tell anyone his identity, how he gets so much satisfaction out of doing the right thing, how he feels protective of everyone (hence, feeling overly protective about Gwen) and the way he didn't know what to do. He's stuck between a rock and a hard place, but Gwen would prefer if he just capitulated. They'd all get this happy ending where everything's sunshine and rainbows and her father's okay with their love.

Of course, it's impossible. That truth's getting a bit overbearing.

She understands how she uses her alter ego as a form of escapism; she doesn't have to think about Peter and the pain (although it's always at the back of her mind).

She understands him so much better, and it makes it all the much harder to let go.

She's so caught up in her thoughts one day and she's rushing towards the scene of a robbery, totally focused on the road in front of her and the thoughts eating away at her brain. She hasn't changed yet; she figures she'll do it later. It's empty and she's headed into the most dangerous part of town. She looks terribly suspicious.

She's so preoccupied with everything – the voices she's hearing through her father's radio, the sound of wind rushing past her, the blur of lights in the vibrant city, that she doesn't hear the familiar swish of a man on a biocable.

It's too late by the time she's turned around: she's airborne and staring into the webbed mask of her hero. She can tell he's not too pleased.

"Gwen… _what_ are you doing?"


	3. Something's Still Oddly Empty

**I own no part of Spiderman.**

She takes a few minutes to regain her breath. It's been a good few weeks since she was last swinging through the city on a thread made by a teenager. She's got her arms wrapped around him and is pressed tightly to his warm body (a part of her is secretly swooning) but he's shaking so much that she knows he's angry.

They land on an enclosed rooftop and Gwen silently curses because there's no way to escape. She's going to be questioned and there's nothing much to do about it.

She shuffles nervously and peeks at him. He's pacing, and a hand goes to remove his mask. She flinches because he looks angrier than she expected him to look. She realizes that she probably looks really guilty, swaying on her feet, so she composes herself and looks him straight in the eye, chin raised defiantly.

"Peter? What's going on?" She tries to play innocent.

He gapes at her a bit. "Gwen, you're… What are you doing?"

"Taking a walk."

"In the middle of the night. And it didn't seem like much of a walk to me, more like an intense run."

"Details. I was exercising."

"In jeans and a tank top? Gwen, I'm not stupid. What's going on? Don't lie to me. You're running. In the heart of New York. Towards the scene of a robbery. In jeans and a tank top. And you know what's the strangest thing of all? New York's newest vigilante hasn't shown up to the scene of the robbery yet."

She freezes, then feigns curiosity. "There's a robbery?"

He scowls. "Yes. Don't play – "

"Well then, _Spiderman_, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be down there? You know, saving the day and all?"

He's glaring at her and she can tell he's seething with anger. "Gwen… Whatever. Whatever! I'm not even gonna try. If you're going to play these games with me, go ahead! I don't care."

He picks her up by the waist and brings her back down.

He glares at her once more before saying: "Cut it out, Gwen. This isn't a joke."

She gives him an overly sweet smile. "What are you talking about, Peter?"

And she leaves.

* * *

She's at home, watching the news on the television about Spiderman defeating another one of New York's top criminals.

Her brother is looking at her curiously because she's supposed to be helping him, but she explains that Spiderman has got it under control.

She's really smirking to herself because she's finally got some leverage over him and it's really annoying him.

She goes off to bed, lying there and feeling extremely victorious. Her hand reaches into her bag to unpack her clothes – she folds the mask and the clothes and keeps it tucked safely into a corner where nobody can find it.

Her hand reaches into her bag to get her father's radio…

… And freezes when she realizes that it's not there.

She's frantically tearing her room apart in minutes, trying to find that radio, when she realizes that she felt Spiderman's hand sneaking into her bag as she was airborne. She took no notice of it then because of the sudden shock she was experiencing.

Spiderman has her radio.

Peter's suspicious. Extremely suspicious.

And she needs to get it back.

She swears.

* * *

Peter's kind of looking at her funny when she comes to school the next day. She's nervous and skittish around him and Harry. She's shyly glancing at him every now and then and sees him staring back at her firmly.

Mary Jane has herself wrapped around Harry and both of them are looking pretty distracted. MJ starts to trail kisses down Harry's neck and Gwen's eyes widen as she pulls him away.

She's still gawking after them when she realizes that she's left alone (again) with Peter. She has to remember to not let MJ away from her sight.

He looks incredibly smug. He's looking at her with this knowing smile and his hands ghost over his pants. She looks at his hands to find that he has something sticking out of his pocket – her radio.

She stiffens. "Where did you find that?"

"In your backpack. Explain, Gwen?"

"There's nothing to explain. It's mine. Give it back."

"I, ah… don't think so. I need an explanation, see?"

She glares at him heatedly for a minute before she lunges forward, reaching towards the radio. Of course, her karate skills have nothing on his spider reflex so she finds her fingers closing on thin air. He's twirling it between his fingers and smirking openly now.

"Give it back, jerk!" She's causing a scene in the hallway and a few teenagers gather around to watch the scene.

He looks so incredibly amused by her antics. "I think… No. What are you doing with this anyway?"

"What do you _mean_? It's my father's! And now it belongs to me!"

He's holding her back with one hand and curiously regarding her. "Tell me the truth."

"It's mine!" she cries out. "It's my dad's and I want it, and…" she finds herself ashamed to be wiping at stray tears. "It's mine."

His eyes widen and he drops his arms, staring at her, horrified. "Gwen, I'm so…" He sheepishly gives it back to her, paying close attention to her expression.

She turns away from him as her fingers wrap protectively around her radio. She shoves it into her backpack and leaves, not looking at him again.

She knows he hasn't stopped looking at her, and as much as she wants to turn around and stare into his eyes, she doesn't.

* * *

Things are working out very nicely. Ever since news about the new vigilante (Gwen scoffs at that word. She's hardly a vigilante) has caught fire, she's become famous. In fact, she became so famous that one man even tried impersonating her. He wore the black suit and all (she has to admit that it would be so easy to impersonate her) and rushed off to the next crime scene and ended up flat on his face in about two seconds.

What makes her relieved, though, is that Spiderman caught hold of him and unmasked him. He's now under the belief that Gwen hasn't been throwing herself into the clutches of danger.

He's not acting like jerk towards her anymore, although she wishes that he would (he would at least pay attention to her, then). He's back to ignoring her and it's irritating her.

Her brother is constantly worrying about her, and it's really tearing her up on the inside. She never meant to hurt anyone; she just wanted to heal. It's completely logical to her, so she can't find any reason for her to stop.

She's learnt her lesson, though. She's very private about where she's going and when she's going. She stays out of sight of the paparazzi and the news reporters and especially Spiderman, so she's pleased that she can still continue on.

It's no longer about getting closer to her father or Spiderman. This is becoming embedded in her. There's a certain pleasure in knowing you're doing good for the society, and this is a part of her as much as Spiderman's a part of Peter.

Her will only strengthens with each time she slips on that mask. If Peter were to ever catch her, she's sure that she will never stop. He'd have to deal with that.

But the birth of this new persona is leading to tragic consequences. She's keeping things from MJ and MJ knows it too; they're slowly drifting apart (she can't take losing anyone else. She's sure she'll break). She's lying to her family more than ever. She's never there for them, even when they're at their lowest and missing the Captain. She's sure that Howard's not going to forgive her and her actions any time soon, and as much as she loves who she is now, it's destroying her life.

She's desperately wishing that things would go back to the way they were.

And then her father's radio buzzes and her logic tells her to shut up, because the past is the past, and she continues and finds her sanctuary behind the mask.

She wonders for how long she can keep this up.

It's not the mask; it's something else that's missing. She knows what it is, and it's killing her.

She misses the boy with the awkward smile and the stuttering speech and the intense kisses and the bold eyes and the golden heart and the beautiful personality. She misses the boy who's been through so much but is still trying to go through so much even if he can't. She misses the boy who so strongly believes that he's doing the right thing for Gwen and she misses the boy who still sneakily takes pictures of her.

She misses the way he loves her and he promises that they'll be together forever.

She misses Peter Parker, and no mask is ever going to cure the ache.


	4. Don't Talk About What You Don't Know

**Author's notes kind of get skipped over a lot, but this is worth saying. A lot of you have requested for Gwen to get powers, which I think is a brilliant idea. That idea, however, may or may not get incorporated in this story. If not, it will certainly be the focus of my next one.**

**As usual, I still own no part of Spiderman.**

* * *

Oscorp is as brilliant as usual. Vibrant with life: new technology, ideas and species are being born every second. There's an air of staleness, though. Dr. Connor's office has been closed of for maintenance, and she has a sneaking suspicion it won't open up again (nobody wants to remember him). Except for Gwen. And maybe Peter.

She doesn't know why, but she can feel so much for this villain. He was doing what he thought was right. He believed it _so much_ only to be thwarted at the finish line. By none other than Peter. It causes a funny taste in her mouth because she's doing what she thinks is right and believes in _so much_. She would rather not be thwarted by Peter, thanks. But it was not only that. Dr. Connors was – _is_ – such a smart man, and so he knew what he was doing so well. It's very hard to believe that someone with such a brilliant mind would be capable of doing something so insanely stupid. She believes that he's still a good man. He always was and he always will be.

And then her logic yells at her because this is her hormones talking. She knows he did the wrong thing. He tried to ruin the world and he tried to kill Peter. He actually killed her father.

And just like that, her mouth dries and she's shaking. She's very happy he's in jail. She shoots a glare to the: 'Under Maintenance' sign and mutters how glad she is that neither he nor his work will ever be seen again.

She focuses back on her work: a bunch of illegible scribbles have been written down on her clipboard because, while her brain wasn't on task, her hand decided to go on and scribble anyway.

She blushes and begins erasing and a colleague of hers – Molly – reminds her that she's to lead a tour around Oscorp right about now. She gets up and follows Molly to the reception, where Molly turns to her.

"Oh, and you'll be touring the group with our newest intern." With a smile, she walks away.

Gwen curiously turns around to see who this new intern is, and her eyes widen in shock.

"_Harry Osborne?"_

He smiles sheepishly at her. He eyes her nervously before shuffling to her. She unrolls her fists and takes them off her hips and places at her sides. She then closes her gaping mouth. "How… What… When… Why didn't you _tell_ me?"

"Um, oops?"

She's back to gaping at him.

"Sorry," he quickly apologizes, "It's just that my Dad – "

"Your Dad. Norman Osborne. CEO of Oscorp. That Dad?"

"The one and only…"

"He gave you the _job_ just because you were his _son_?" He's staring at her, eyes wide. "How _dare_ he. I work forever to get this internship and it finally pays off, but you just waltz in here and you get it because you're his _son_."

Harry's glaring at the ground. "He didn't give the internship to me, Gwen," he said sharply. "I applied, just like everyone else. He – he doesn't even know I'm here. Don't talk about things you don't know, Gwen."

She looks at him, suddenly blushing and ashamed. "I'm sorry, Harry. That was tactless of me to do."

He nods sullenly before smiling at her. "I had to apply as Archibald Werner so that nobody knew who I really am."

She bursts out laughing at that as people start filing in for the tour. She turns to face the crowd. "Good morning, everyone. My name is Gwen Stacy, an intern at Oscorp. This here is our newest intern, Archibald Werner." She's fighting to keep her voice level.

The tour continues as normal and she's surprised at how much Harry knows about Oscorp (before reminding herself that he _is_ the CEO's son; this couldn't be his first time here).

She smiles as she realizes: she can get used to his presence.

… Just as long as he doesn't mention Peter.

* * *

They're packing up before they head home and the topic of conversation turns towards MJ, at which point Harry becomes mush all over the equipment. She's fully laughing because he looks like such a fool: carefree and in love. Her laughter dies down when she remembers how that felt, having it with Peter.

Harry notices her silence and nudges her shoulder. "Wake up, kid." He gives her a soft smile. "You know… he can't stop talking about you."

"Who?" She knows whom he's talking about.

"You know who I'm talking about. Peter. He talks so much about you, it's annoying. It's just: Gwen says this and Gwen says that and Gwen's always right and then he gets super moody."

She bites her lip to stop herself from smiling as she imagines a sulky Peter. "MJ's no better, you know? I'm pretty sure I know _every single thing_ you've been doing with my best friend. And trust me, I don't want to know."

He blushes instantly and buries himself deeper in his work. She laughs and looks at the time: it's time for them to head home.

He offers to buy her some coffee so that the two of them and MJ could just hang out later, and she agrees. Tonight's a relatively free night and the radio against her hip hasn't been vibrating much at all.

They're at the coffee shop impatiently waiting for MJ to come and they spot an intern who addresses both of them: "Hey, Gwen. And, uh… Archibald."

They struggle to contain their laughter until the intern's outside, at which point they laugh so hard there's tears coming out of their eyes. Gwen threatens to tell MJ about it and Harry shuts up immediately. Of course, this gets her going more and he's smiling, despite the fact that they were both poking fun at him.

At that exact moment the door swings open and someone freezes in his spot as he sees a giggling Gwen and a Harry stuck in some corner of the coffee shop.

Gwen sees him at the exact same time as Harry does, and both of them freeze. Harry's the first one to get up, giving Peter a half smile before clasping his shoulder. "Hey, man. We were just – "

Peter, with a clenched jaw, takes one look at Gwen, spins around and leaves.

Gwen's got an icy feeling in her stomach and when MJ arrives, neither is in the mood to tell her exactly what got them so down.

But as she watches MJ take care of Harry so lovingly, she realizes that she might have a mask and an alter ego, but she'd rather live a simple life with the man she loves.

Too bad he doesn't live a simple life either.

* * *

Cornering Peter the next day at school proves to be harder than ever. Usually Peter _let_ himself be found, but he really is trying to avoid her.

She's determined, though. If she can't catch him during her lunch break, she always has English class.

Gwen's trying to search for Peter and she finds herself teamed up with Harry and MJ. MJ's suddenly been filled in and knows what's going on, and Gwen feels as though her private life's been invaded. (If she can't share secrets with her best friend, with whom can she share them with? She knows the answer is the boy she's trying valiantly to find.)

They corner him in and empty classroom and he looks peeved that he's been caught. He has his hands stuffed in his pockets and he's pouting. Gwen reckons it might be because Peter wants to test her self-control and see whether or not she would kiss the living daylights out of him.

She thinks she just might.

But Peter's angry and he makes it apparent as he tries to leave, his posture stiff. Harry blocks his entrance and holds his best friends firmly by the shoulders.

"Listen, man. Stop sulking for one second and listen."

And he sighs and looks at Harry, waiting for an explanation. Of course, Harry flicks his head towards the door, grabs MJ and bolts.

It's just him and Gwen, and Gwen's honestly quite glad.

"Well?"

"Well, ah. See, Peter, you kind of misunderstood the situation – "

Peter's eyes flashed. "_Misunderstood?_ I don't think so. You want to get with Harry, fine. I don't care, I really don't. But he's with MJ and MJ's your best friend so Harry's not only cheating on MJ but you are too so you're both cheating on her at the same time, so – "

Gwen rolls her eyes (because boys can be so bull-headed if they want to). "Peter Parker, shut up and listen to me right now." He does. "I am _not_ with Harry Osborne. We were waiting for MJ and he works with me. _Works with me_. Don't talk about things you don't know, Peter," she finishes, stealing a line from Harry.

Peter, looking abashed and guilty suddenly springs back up and he's at her with full force again.

"_Don't talk about things I don't know?_ Why don't you take your own advice, Gwen? You don't _know_ what happened that day on the rooftop. You don't _know_ how I'm feeling about you and you _certainly_ don't know the pressures of being Spiderman. You want so much from me all the time! Do you know how much pressure you've put me in? Do you? I feel like the villain here, Gwen. I did _nothing_ wrong. But you still try to guilt me into feeling terrible about myself. Well, congratulations. I feel absolutely terrible. Are you happy? Did you know that? Next time, _Gwen Stacy_, don't you dare talk about things you don't know."

And he leaves her, and she turns into a helpless pile of tears the second he leaves (he won't let her see how hurt she is. He's done hurting her). She hasn't felt this bad in the longest time and what makes her feel worse is probably the fact that she knows he's right.

He's right and that must, by logic, mean she's wrong.

This is all her fault.


	5. Slightly Tense?

**I own no part of Spiderman**

* * *

"… Assigning you partners. Questions?" Gwen refocuses on her English teacher just as the teacher looks at her.

"Good," Ms. Ritter continues.

And Gwen doesn't have to listen at this point because she's sure of whom she's going to end up with. Fate hasn't been on her side for the longest time – her relationship with her brother has been depreciating and the robbers got away that one time. Her focus on everything has been slipping as Peter consumes her mind more and more. She thinks it might be safer if they were back to dating; she wouldn't have to worry about his getting mad and leaving her forever.

"Gwen and Peter," Ms. Ritter calls out, and Gwen doesn't have to turn around to know that Peter is scowling.

The class reorganizes itself and Gwen finds her feet moving towards Peter. He doesn't look up at her and she tentatively takes a seat next to him, angling her body away from his. His body is slouched and he's absentmindedly scribbling on a piece of paper.

There's silence for a while.

"So, uh…"

"How are you and Harry doing?"

"Peter," she sighs. He glares at her and then looks back at his paper.

"Whatever," he says. "I say we split up the work equally and we'll present it later."

"Right," she says, wishing she'd paid attention to what Ms. Ritter was saying.

He rolls his eyes at her before turning his body towards hers (she finds her own body unconsciously tilting towards him). "We read the book and we talk about the characters. There are two main characters so we should take one each."

She nods and he goes back to slouching on his desk and doodling. She wants so much to smile. Or smack him.

There's more silence and she's finding it slightly maddening that she can feel his body so close to her, the delicious heat almost seeping into her bones and she can smell his hair and hear his breathing and it feels like she's completely surrounded by him. "Peter," she blurts.

He puts his pencil down and fully faces her. "What?"

"Harry and I aren't dating. Heck, we just became friends! And," He looks like he's going to go back to ignoring her so she speaks faster, "And I'd never do that to Mary Jane, and I'm not even attracted to Harry; he's too…" she blushes and continues. He's too un-Peter-like. "And besides, I wasn't on a date with him; we were waiting for MJ and he's working with me and I swear I didn't know because if I did I would have told you, really." She gasps for air. She looks at him and he's looking evenly at her but there's a hint of humor in his eyes.

One end of his mouth is quirked upwards in a smirk, to. "So," he finally drawls. "You and Harry…"

"Are inexistent," she finishes off firmly.

He nods. "Alright, then." And he goes on to talking about the project but she forgot about listening because he brushed his knee against her a few times.

Now he's really smirking and she really wants to smack him.

They're working and suddenly he turns towards her and licks his lips nervously.

She rests her chin on her palm and puts her elbow on the desk. "I don't have a spare copy of the book."

He laughs. "I already have one," he grabs his book and slightly shakes it before putting it back on the table.

"I was actually gonna ask you if, uh… they're still hiring at Oscorp…" then she sees him panic and start blabbering. "Because I need the money and my camera broke so that kind of sucks so yeah."

Her heart's in her throat because _dammit, he might be working with her…_

"Yeah. Yeah, I can organize that… I can do that. No problem."

He sighs in relief. "Thanks, Gwen." He gives her a smile and she internally swoons.

And they're working again and she turns to him.

"Why are you talking to me?"

He doesn't look up from his work. "I'm not. I'm doing my work. Go away."

She rolls her eyes. "You know what I mean, Peter."

"No."

She resists the urge to smack him. "Yes, you do. You've been ignoring me for so long so I was wondering what made you change your mind."

"Nothing. I'm still ignoring you! Go away, Gwen. You're distracting me."

She actually smacks him.

"Ow!"

"Peter!"

"Fine, fine…" He looks at her. "Fine," he repeats. Both their faces become serious. "I'm worried about you, Gwen… I know you're hiding something from me. Something's going wrong and you're not telling me what it is. I know I haven't really been the best, uh… _friend_" (here she winces) "ever but I still wanna know what's up with you. People say you're cutting…"

"_What?_" she exclaims. "_No!_" And she's drawn attention to herself and she's blushing. She can see, from the corner of her eye, Peter's shoulders silently shaking with laughter.

"No," she repeats more firmly when everyone goes back to chattering.

"Then what?"

"Nothing." She doesn't look at him.

He sighs. "You're not gonna tell me, are you?" He doesn't wait for an answer. "No problem." He grins at her and goes back to working.

She sits there for a while, dumbfounded.

* * *

"So, this is the thing," she says uncomfortably to her boss. He looks at her curiously and she stands there for a while, fiddling with her fingers. She looks at him nervously and starts again. "I have a… _friend_… and he's keen on joining Oscorp." She looks at him fully now. "He's brilliant in Science, second best in our class! And he's worked here before… Peter Parker. Not sure if you remember."

"Parker. Wasn't that Connors' partner?"

"Yeah… Richard Parker. That's his dad."

"And Peter worked with Connors."

"Yes."

"And Connors created that death machine."

"Yeah, but… I mean, Peter didn't invent it…" _He stopped the thing!_

"Right, right."

She looks down again and she thinks about how she's going to break it to Peter that he didn't get accepted because he worked with Dr. Connors and she knows how angry he'll get because he _stopped_ the man, and how much more could the world want from him? She knows the rapport they've formed will suddenly be broken and that leaves a gut-wrenching feeling inside her and it's smashing her from the inside –

"Alright."

"… What?"

He sighs, takes off his glasses, wipes them with his shirt and puts them back on. (She finds this habit annoying.) "You're an excellent intern here, Gwen. One of the best we've had. And if you recommend Peter Parker then I think we'll take your consideration seriously."

She leaps with joy and (she blushes with horror when she thinks about this later) _hugs_ him and runs out to tell Harry the joyous news.

Of course, it's after hours so she drags herself to MJ's place and she's pretty sure she knows what they're doing.

She knocks – _once, twice, thrice and four times just to be sure_ – and she enters and, surely enough, they're both sitting on her bed with tousled hair and she rolls her eyes and sits on MJ's chair.

They chat amicably for a while and Harry's happy to hear that Peter's going to be working with them, although he looks a bit uncomfortable.

And then her radio's going off and she's panicking.

She gets up with a hasty excuse of having to get home and finish her Biology homework and she darts.

As she leaves, she catches a bit of Harry's conversation.

"_Pete, she's leaving."_

She's in half a mind to go back but her radio's going off like crazy so she runs out of her house, wishing a good night to MJ's mother.

And she's pulling on her black clothes as she runs and she stops to catch a breath – _maybe she needs to take a taxi_ – and she's almost there with her radio going off and suddenly Peter's leaning into her taxi and instructing the man to take her home.

He doesn't look at her as he starts running towards the crime scene.

The taxi driver looks at her with a funny expression on his face.

"Boyfriend seems tense, eh?"

"_Yeah…_"

* * *

Of course, she's just a bit rebellious so she gets out of the taxi when Peter's out of sight and follows him to the scene of the crime and when she reaches she's fully changed and ready to go.

And she's back at an alley watching Spiderman being attacked from a mob of people. She watches in awe as he takes them down, slowly but surely. Just when she's sure he's got it under control and she's ready to leave, she sees another swarm of people and suddenly she's tense.

Her feet are moving despite what her logic is saying – _he'll catch you he'll catch you he'll catch you_ – and she's in the middle of the fighting scene.

Spiderman doesn't try to attack her, and she finds them working as a team to drive the people off. Finally, they're all gone and the police are on their way and Gwen's tense to leave.

She takes her first step and Spiderman turns towards her. She can tell by his tense shoulders that he's angry.

He corners her against a wall and puts a hand on either side of her face. She holds her breath and waits for him to take off her mask, steeling herself, waiting for his reaction.

To her surprise, his shoulders slump and he takes a few steps back.

She watches him carefully and waits.

He turns towards her again and says, "I'm not gonna unmask you. I don't care who you are." He takes a step towards her and he's in her face again, livid.

He looks at her, breathing harshly and her eyes widen at what he says next:

"_Just stay away from Gwen_."


	6. Houses of Chocolate and Annoyance

**Disclaimer: I own no part of Spiderman.**

* * *

She's shaking with anger when she gets back because she visits Harry and demands to know what the phone call to Peter was about. And she looks frightening when she's livid so he tells her readily, eager to run away.

She blows up on him.

And she's swearing and waving her arms around and Harry quietly shrinks back and waits patiently for her to finish, by which time she realizes she has to be home. She apologizes to a wide-eyed Mary Jane and an equally shocked mother.

She's in half a mind to go to Peter's house and then she remembers that her brother's probably waiting up for her so she goes home.

And he's there, looking at her with those dead eyes and she hugs him and they watch a movie together (The Notebook; she cries all over the place and Howard groans in mock annoyance every time she does).

She goes to bed satisfied that her brother was okay around her again but livid that Peter wanted to keep a watch on her so the inner turmoil keeps her up for the longest time before she falls asleep.

And, of course, she wakes up in the middle of the night and can't fall asleep because fate's decided it hates her. She goes to the balcony and bristles against the cold air against her face but she's feeling more alive than she has in a while.

Her eyes shut and it's that one moment where she can sense Peter behind her and she knows it's her imagination but she can imagine him, soft and warm and kissable, and he'd be smiling and looking at her and she'd kiss him then.

She opens her eyes.

And hears a sound.

Startled, she whips around to find nobody there, and she has a hand on her heart while it rhythmically beats frantically against her ribcage.

She spins around a few times, making sure nobody was there before slipping back into her room.

She sees a flash of red and white.

So she runs back out (wearing only her nightie, she's just realized) but of _course_ nobody's there.

She puts her hand on her hip in annoyance and waits for another sign of Peter to show.

It's a few minutes later and she's considering going in, and she turns around for the smallest second before: _thwip_.

And again: _thwip, thwip_.

And she looks up to see a package webbed to the side of her wall. With the utmost care, she untangles it and opens the box.

And she smiles like an idiot when she sees what's inside.

It's slightly melted and kind of smudgy, but she can descry the overall contour and her eyes fill with tears (much to her chagrin; what if Peter's watching her?)

It's a mini chocolate house.

She just stares at it for a while before she realizes there's a note attached to it: _Gwen Stacy, I thought this might convince you to talk to me._

She turns around because she feels his warmth and he's right there, smiling embarrassedly and rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"Hey."

"Hi," she responds, staring at him.

"… Hey."

She laughs. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, actually… I was wondering if you were up for a late night movie?"

She looks down at herself and then covers her chest with her arms. "Dressed like this?"

He grins at her and lifts up a movie for her to see. "The Notebook. I dunno what you'd like but girls are all mush over this stuff so I figured it might work." He looks so embarrassed she can't help but laugh and blush.

"Yeah, sure."

So they awkwardly slide into her room and she sits on her bed and burrows herself under the covers, patiently waiting for him to join her.

He's blushing furiously when he sits next to her, rigid and on top of the covers, so she rolls her eyes, yanks the covers from underneath him and pulls it over him.

He stares at her in shock but she ignores him, feeling slightly silly.

She then proceeds to put a hand on his chest and push him back into a relaxed position. She leaves her hand on his chest for longer than necessary. He doesn't complain.

Then the movie starts rolling and of course she's crying again, just like she did with Howard, but she reduces it to tiny sniffling sounds so that she doesn't embarrass herself.

She feels his now slackened body suddenly tense slightly, and feels an arm move from right next to her over her head and onto her shoulders.

She forgets about the movie at that point and concentrates on resting her head on his chest (she finally does it and she doesn't dare meet his eyes; she's too red).

The credits start rolling and she marvels at the fact that it seems like it's only been a few minutes. But she doesn't move and neither does he.

Finally, after sitting there for the longest while, she speaks. "Peter?"

She feels his chest vibrate as he answers her. "Hmm?"

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

"… What?" He sounds so sleepy (and content?).

"The note."

"Oh. Yeah." There's a pause. "It's nothing."

"It's not nothing, Peter. What is it?"

He sighs and she reflexively tucks herself closer to him.

He waits for a while before: "I know what's going on with you and that masked vigilante."

"… What?"

"And I don't think you should get involved with him."

"… _What_?"

"Because he's not really good for you, I don't think."

"He…?"

He doesn't seem to hear her. "I think you're gonna get up in exactly the thing I left you behind for and I don't think that's a good idea because if your dad met that new vigilante he'd say the same thing as he said to me so I don't think this is a good idea so stop, please."

She's untucked herself from him (her logic is cheering her on) and glaring at him. "Excuse me?"

His eyes widen. "Uh…"

"Because I'm perfectly capable of making decisions on my own. You've already made one decision for me, but I can be with this vigilante if I want to. And I can be involved in whatever you are if I want to because you're as much a teenager as I am."

"I just don't think…"

"Well I do. So drop it."

He doesn't, though. "Gwen! You don't know what you're getting in to. You don't know what I do on a daily basis and you don't know what I see."

"That's because you won't _let_ me!"

"And I'm going to keep it that way. Listen to me, Gwen. Either you stay away from him or I'll make sure he stays away from you."

And she's so angry and indignant as he jumps off her balcony and into the night sky. But _damn him, he can't catch the vigilante if he tried_.

And with that, she settles back into her bed, a new type of resolve seeping into her.

* * *

She hangs out with MJ the next day, which, at first, annoys her more than she realizes. Because MJ's a changed girl, in love and happy. And she… isn't.

MJ can't stop talking about Harry and how amazing everything is with him, and Gwen's just seething with jealousy and feeling kind of hurt because MJ's started a new life with him and without her.

(If you can't rely on your best friend, who can you rely on?)

But it changes suddenly when MJ realizes how uncomfortable Gwen is and changes the topic to:

"How's Peter?"

Gwen stiffens. "Dunno."

"You should. He came over to your house last night."

"How the…"

"Peter told Harry." She shrugs. "Guys gossip more than they care to admit, actually. It's amusing," she continues absently, stirring her coffee.

Gwen stares at her.

"So?" MJ prompts, looking at her.

"Fine. He came over. We watched a movie. He went home. The end."

"No, no. _Not_ the end. What did you watch?"

Gwen mumbles something out.

"What?"

"I said: The Notebook."

MJ's smirking. "Oh?"

Gwen scowls. "Yes. And nothing happened."

"Nothing…?"

"Nothing."

And MJ leaves it alone because Harry's here and she's all over him, leaving Gwen to sulk to herself.

Because something _did_ happen and dammit, she wants to share it with someone.

* * *

It's another day of Biology quizzes and crime fighting and she's at home, exhausted. Weirdly enough, her whole family's up, watching TV.

Nobody seems to notice her entry except Howie, who glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Gwen," he says loudly. "Where have you been?"

She's startled because he's supposed to be covering for her. "Meeting Mary Jane," she stammers.

"So late?"

She gapes at him for a while. Neither her mother nor the rest of her family seem to mind, but Howard seems annoyed with her.

"Never mind," he finally says. "We have someone home, anyway."

And that's when Peter walks out, holding ice cream in one had, a spoon in the other, and a quirky smile on his face.

"Hey." He waves a spoon at her.

And that's when she notices a smile on her mother's face as the rest of the family evacuates the room.

Her mother throws her a look over her shoulder and says, "Thought it might keep you from moping."

And she walks out.

Gwen stands there, flushed and refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she finally asks.

"Your brother invited me."

She notices that Howard's still hung around and groans. "Really?"

"Yup."

They stare each other down for a while before Howard interrupts. "Well, what he means to say is that both Peter and I are worried about you and if we work together, we could just figure out what exactly it is you've been up to."

She glares at Howard because he knows _exactly_ what she's been up to.

And she glares at Peter because Peter's Peter.

"So," Howard continues, and she realizes both boys are smirking. "It's like this. Peter can keep an eye on you at school and I can keep an eye on you at home."

It's such a ludicrous idea that it has her laughing for a while before she realizes – _they're serious_.

Then she stops laughing.

And starts yelling.

"What?" Both boys flinch. "What do you _mean_ 'keep an eye on me'? That's… not only _unnecessary_ but also a _violation of my privacy_!"

And words are flowing out of her mouth and she watches in satisfaction as both boys sink back into the sofa.

She stops yelling to let them get a word in.

"So," Peter drawls. "We have an understanding?"

She lets out a strangled scream. "You boys… are _incorrigible_!" And she walks out, huffing.

She hears them snickering in the background and before she knows it, a slight smile creeps up onto her face.


	7. The Art of Staying Calm

**Disclaimer: I do not own Spiderman.**

* * *

She's a bag of nerves today. She drags herself up from bed and tensely showers, tensely combs her hair, tensely applies her makeup (maybe that wasn't the best idea), tensely gives her mom a hug and tensely bikes to school.

She's pretty tense.

She remembers that today's Wednesday, so that means she and the other interns are going to stay late to do extra work.

She curses.

She and Harry have a habit of walking to Oscorp together after school. MJ doesn't really mind, because, in her words, "if you ever do get with Harry, I guess we have no choice but to have a hot, sexy thr– "

Gwen's blushing on her way to school.

She absentmindedly walks into school and unsurprisingly walks into a sturdy chest. She looks up to see Harry smirking at her. "Clumsy today?"

She rolls her eyes. "Where's MJ?"

He points his thumb behind her shoulder, where MJ is talking to a classmate of theirs.

"Oh."

He smiles at her. "So, excited, Stacy?"

"For what?" (She already knows what; she's extremely tense about it too.)

He grins. "You forgot? Man, he'll be crushed."

At that same time, a skateboard almost collided into Gwen, and she shrieks.

Peter laughs. "Sorry."

Harry gives her this knowing kind of glance before turning to Peter. "We were just talking about you."

Peter blushes and raises an eyebrow. "Oh?" He glances at Gwen (who decides to look at her shoes. And maybe Peter's.)

"First day back. You ready?"

Peter smiles a boyish smile, one that makes Gwen go all fuzzy. He really is excited for this job. "Ready as I'll ever be." He smirks in Gwen's direction.

Gwen nearly faints.

She recovers quickly, though, and runs off to talk to MJ, who also knows what today is and laughs at Gwen.

"Just bat your eyes and flip your hair. You won't be nervous anymore, but he will!"

Gwen groans in frustration and walks off to class, trying to calculate the chance that Peter heard MJ's advice.

(It's pretty high.)

* * *

"Hey." A boy pokes her shoulder.

"Yeah?" She closes her locker and turns towards him.

"I'm Jason." He smiles at her.

She can't recall his face. "Hey, Jason. I'm Gwen."

He rolls his eyes before smiling at her again. "Don't I know that."

She sways on her feet for a while before looking back up at him. "Well… Nice to meet you!"

She tries to escape, but he follows her. "Sorry, Gwen. I was just wondering if you knew about the carnival coming to town."

"Actually, I didn't." She looks at him. "When is it?"

"I actually don't know. How about I check the date and we can go together?"

She contemplates saying no. But it's been so long since she's last been on a date and secretly (her logic isn't too thrilled with her) it might get Peter jealous.

"I'd love to." She smiles up at him.

He gives her this smile (that make her insides squirm in slight disgust) and walks away.

She sighs.

"Gwen Stacy," she mutters to herself. "Way to go."

* * *

She fiddles with the strap of her bag as she waits by the entrance of school for Harry. Oh, and Peter.

"Stacy!" She hears a yell as she watches two boys skateboard towards her at an alarming speed.

"Careful!" she shouts.

"Gwen," Peter looks at her. "My middle _name_ is careful."

And she gives him this look that says _I've-cleaned-your-wounds-who-are-you-kidding._

He smirks.

Harry takes hold of both their arms and drags them towards the direction of Oscorp, muttering, "Walking now, flirting later."

Gwen swears, then and there, that she will _never again_ walk with this pair.

They chat amicably about this and that, and she watches as Harry throws Peter glances before asking her if she's heard about the newest vigilante. Before they know it, they reach the towering, ominous building.

They enter, Harry way ahead of them. Gwen turns back to see Peter looking nervous. She walks towards him. "What's wrong?"

"I just… the last time I was in here… it was… and then there was the thing with the _you know what_… and… and…"

She wants to hug him. "Peter… It was hard for me to come back, too. All the memories were…" she trails off as pain enters both their eyes. This is the closest they've come to talking about what used to be. "But things have changed. And I'm healing, Peter. I'm getting better now. And so will you." She smiles softly at him and touches his arm.

He looks at her with an unrecognizable look on his face. "I… Thank you, Gwen."

She nods and they start working.

It's nearing nighttime and Gwen finds herself forgetting about the drama and getting involved in her work. Her boss comes in to wish her a good night, and then it's the three of them and a few more interns.

Peter glides up to Gwen then.

"Hi."

"Hey," she smiles at him.

"I, uh, need help." He hands her a test tube and she moves closer to him, explaining it and she notices that he's subtly tensed up and that his breathing has become more shallow. She swallows and continues explaining that it's probably an addition reaction, but she notices that neither of them seem to really care about what she's talking about anymore.

She looks up to find Peter's face shockingly close to hers.

She holds her breath and waits (_kiss me, Peter, please_) but all Peter does is swallow and call Harry in.

She reels back, looking at him.

He looks so vulnerable, eyes wide and mouth slightly open, and he tucks a strand of hair behind her ears. Gwen closes her eyes, her mouth parting.

His hand falls from her hair to her shoulder, down her arm and to her hand. He grasps it tightly. "Gwen?"

She looks at him, not daring to speak.

He smiles softly at her, before the smile freezes on her face. Everything happens so fast after that. He shuts off from her, eyes hardening and jaw clenching, and turns his back to her. "Harry?" he calls, anger radiating in his voice.

She looks at him, eyes narrowed.

"Harry," he calls again. "Gwen knows how to do it. You can get help from her."

And he walks away.

She stares after him, confused and hurt.

Harry comes in, oblivious, and she swallows, trying to keep herself from letting this affect her.

(Everything he does affects her and she's so scared she'll never untangle herself from him.)

She explains it to Harry, who walks away happily, and she's back in her work, roughly wiping her eyes and hoping she can forget about him.

She does, for the shortest while.

There's a sudden scream just as she tries to mix the two solvents. She puts her test tubes down and listens again.

"_Gwengwengwengwengwen!_"

She rolls her eyes. Harry.

She rushes to where she knows he is and she sees both boys staring down at a broken beaker, glass scattered all over the floor.

They look terribly lost.

Harry looks up at her. "He did it," he said weakly, pointing to Peter. Peter scowls.

She rolls her eyes. "Honestly, boys! Just take a broom and sweep it up!" She reaches down to grab the dustpan, cutting herself on a stray piece of glass.

"Ow!"

Peter's by her side in a second, grabbing her hand and inspecting it. She looks at him, with his narrowed brown eyes and his tousled hair and his mouth in a frown and his jaw firm and his eyes expressive and she remembers that one time when he's upset with her for coming into the school when she shouldn't and like that, all the memories come flooding back.

She pushes him away. "I don't need your help," she hisses.

"Gwen," he says sharply, trying to grab her hand again.

"I can do it _by myself_."

He bristles. "Stop this, Gwen," he snaps.

She's shaking suddenly. "I don't need your help. I haven't for a long time. So leave me alone. I can do it by myself."

He's silent and watching her.

"I'm independent enough and I don't need anyone. I don't need you, Peter. You think you're doing the right thing? Do you honestly? You're not keeping me out of trouble. You _can't_ keep me out of trouble. You have _no control_ over me, and you have _no right_ to do what you're doing. You crossed the line by talking to Howard. You crossed the line by taking my radio. You crossed the line when you accused me of dating Harry. You're way past the line, Peter. Step back, because _I'm doing this myself_."

He narrows his eyes at her. "We're not talking about this here."

"Agreed," she responds icily.

Harry's gone, and he comes back after some time. He's tense. "Gwen, you're going on a date with Jason?"

She looks at Peter challengingly. "Yes."

Harry sighs. "Do you even _know_ about his reputation?"

"This isn't the first time I'm with someone with a reputation."

Peter's suddenly tense and she knows she's gone too far.

She holds her breath, her logic silently cursing her.

Finally (after an agonizing silence) he turns to her. "I know what you're doing." He's shaking with anger.

"Do you?"

"For heaven's sake!" Harry rolls his eyes and walks out.

"Get the hell away from the vigilante. Get the hell away from Jason. Stay the hell out of places you don't belong. You understand me?"

"No!" she finally shouts. "What do you _want_ me to do, Peter? Will you talk to me if I get bitten by a spider? What if I suddenly start flying? Or should I put myself in the clasp of trouble like I'm doing now? What do I have to _do_?"

Peter runs a hand over his face. "Oh my god." He briskly walks towards her and Gwen takes a few steps back, wary of the feral looks on her face.

His arms reach out and grasp hers, and he pulls her close, glaring at her.

"You drive me crazy," he growls.

And he kisses her.


	8. The End of the Beginning

**Disclaimer: I still own no part of Spiderman.**

**... Still.  
**

* * *

Warmth is all she first registers. Then, she registers her arms snaking around his neck and his tongue entering her mouth, stroking hers gently. One hand is buried in her hair while the other is at the small of her back, and Gwen arches towards him. He groans into her mouth. Her hands bury themselves in his hair desperately and hold him to her, refusing to let him go.

Her mind is pleasantly blank until they have to break apart for air. Peter is panting, lips parted and hair messed, and she almost purrs at the sight.

Then she freezes, her mush-like body suddenly stiffening. "What was that for?"

Peter gulps. "I don't know." He lets go of her and she steps back, her mind still reeling.

"Peter…" she sighs. "You can't keep messing me up like this. I don't know what you want. You want me to stay away from you? Then stay away from me! Or do you not want that?" She holds her breath and steps closer to him. "Do you want…" She can't bring herself to finish her sentence.

His eyes are unreadable for the longest time, then he slouches. "I don't know. Gwen…" he glances at her. "I don't know how to stay away from you."

Her logic shushes her erratic heart and she breathes shallowly. He walks towards her.

"I watched your father die. It was my fault, Gwen. I could have stopped it. _I_ could have thrown him out of the way, distracted Dr. Connors…" He refuses to meet her eyes. "Then he lay there, dying, looking at me. And he told me to stay away from you. I killed him, Gwen. This was my punishment, this _is_ my punishment, staying away from you."

He looks more vulnerable than he's been in a long time and suddenly she sees through his overprotective (and jackass) façade and looks into the soul of a vulnerable boy who's lost both his parents, who's lost his uncle, who's lost everything that's mattered to him. The boy who does nothing more than the right thing, the boy who's been bullied from a young age, the boy she's always noticed but never approached until his need to do the right thing and stand up to his bully, the awkward, stumbling, precious boy who's lodged himself in her heart, the boy who has everything happen to him and takes the punishment willingly.

She cups his face with both her hands and he looks at her.

"I miss you," she says. His eyes close. "Sometimes I stand on the balcony because I think you'll come. I have a hoodie that you left in my house. I wear it every night. I was the happiest person when you started talking to me again. I watch the news every night to look out for Spiderman. I miss you, Peter. I miss you."

He swallows, looking pained. "What am I supposed to do, Gwen? I don't know how to defy your father."

"Then let me." She smiles up at him. "This isn't my first time being a bit rebellious, trust me. Peter, you don't need to have this guilt hanging over you. My dad was being childish when he made you promise that."

He still looks conflicted.

"It hurts." She takes his hand and puts it over her heart. "Please, Peter, do the right thing."

She feels him shaking.

"Please," she tries again.

She holds her breath for a few agonizing moments before he releases his breath. "Okay."

She blinks up at him. "Okay?"

He gives her a small smile. "Yeah."

She squeals and launches herself at him, knocking them both to the ground.

He laughs, grabs her face, and kisses her.

* * *

"It's more complicated than just this," he tells her as he holds her hand and they head back to her house.

"I know," she responds, peeking at her gorgeous boy.

He nods, blushing, and they leave it at that.

* * *

Gwen's early to school the next day because she knows Peter will be, too. (Okay, maybe not _that_ early; there's still an hour before school starts.) She sits and takes out a book, absently flipping through the pages, not really reading but waiting a skateboard and a warm body to collide with hers.

She senses warmth and she looks up, excited. Then she blinks.

"Jason," she says, looking at the smirking boy.

"Hey, Gwen." He sits next to her. "How are you?"

"Good, good." She looks around nervously for Peter.

"So, about that carnival…"

"Right, um. Something came up, and…"

He looks at her strangely. "I haven't really told you the day it's gonna be."

She flushes. "Right."

He looks at her. "Give me a chance, Gwen. Come on."

She tucks her hair behind her ear and looks at him. "I, uh. I can't."

"And why not?" he snaps, slightly frustrated.

"I have a boyfriend."

He snorts. "A boyfriend? Last time I checked, you were single. Where the hell is this boyfriend of yours?"

"Right here," a voice replies from behind her, and she spins around to see Overprotective Peter looking livid. She swoons; he's hers.

Peter wraps an arm around her shoulders and looks evenly at Jason, who scowls.

"Whatever," Jason mutters, kicking the ground and walking away.

She turns to look up at Peter, whose angry façade melts into a more tender one as he looks at her.

"Hi," she whispers.

"Hey," he responds, just as shyly. They spend a long, glorious moment looking at each other (and Gwen thrills at the fact that she can still feel the weight of his arm around her shoulders) before he looks away, stuttering, "I, uh, I got you something."

"Yeah?" She can feel a smile growing on her face.

"Yeah." He grins.

He takes something out of a plastic wrapping; a string of red and blue beads in a bracelet shape. "It's candy," he says, giving her that lopsided grin. "And it's Spiderman colors. They were selling it at a store and it was really funny because I was Spiderman – not, not Peter Parker, uh, yeah – so I was Spiderman when I bought it and they were really happy so here it is." He blushes and shoves it into her hands.

She's laughing, suddenly, and she throws her arms around his neck because this is the most ridiculous and precious gift anyone's ever given her. Her insides fill with joy as he wraps his arms around her to steady her and she presses her face against his chest.

"Thank you," she murmurs, breaking off a few pieces of candy and putting it in his hand.

He tips it into his mouth, grinning.

They walk into class, sticky hands and smiling faces.

This is the happiest she's felt in the longest time.

* * *

She didn't know how long she expected the happiness to last. Of course, Gwen kept the radio with her. Of course, it was in her pocket. Of course, Peter heard it and demanded to know what it was and they got into a fight because he thinks she's not being honest with her (which she isn't) but she refused to tell him so he went home sulking.

She's sitting in her room now, scowling.

How the heck was she supposed to tell him? She could only guess what would happen. If she's lucky, he'd just combust and go mental. But that's her being optimistic. He's probably gonna demand that she never does something like that again and refuse to let her out of the house without being watched.

… Or maybe he'd fall to her knees and worship her for being so clever and brave.

She rolls her eyes. _That's not gonna happen_, her logic snorts.

So she sneaks out, going on her daily patrol just like she knows her (she feels giddy when she says this) _boyfriend_ is doing.

She stays far, far away from her boyfriend.

She knows Spiderman's on his patrol and that he's probably going to visit her later, so she zooms back to her apartment before Spiderman can even consider the fact that she stepped out of her house.

He comes, barely a minute after she reaches, and jumps in through her bedroom window.

"Hey," he says, breathless.

She checks him for major bruises (there are none) and she looks at him.

He glares at her before dropping his eyes in defeat. "Why won't you tell me?" he asks.

"Because, Peter. There are some things that I can keep as a secret. I don't have to tell you everything."

"I know that," he snaps. Then, he sighs. "I'm just worried about you, Gwen."

"I know you are." She looks up at him and wraps her arms around his waist. Secretly, she's astounded that they fall back so easily, without the awkwardness Peter is so known for. "I worry about you, too. I'm not sure if you remember, but my boyfriend's Spiderman."

He grins down at her. "Boyfriend, huh?"

"Yeah," she affirms.

"Good." He smirks, looking extremely cocky for one second, before he becomes all awkward again. "I'm sorry."

She smiles up at him. "So am I."

"So…" he sways on his feet. "You're not gonna tell me?"

"_Peter!_"

He bursts out laughing. "Sorry, sorry!" He raises his hand in mock-surrender and she throws her pillow at him.

"Jerk," she mutters.

They spend the whole night talking and cuddling, catching up and healing their hearts, the radio in her bag long forgotten.

For a short period of time, everything is okay.

* * *

But Peter leaves in the middle of the night because something's wrong and she watches him, tense and worried, alone and scared and she remembers how Howard feels and how she felt and why her father wanted her out of this and how it would hurt everyday to not be able to do anything. She decks herself in all black and runs out because she can finally do something to help him.

She stays out of Peter's sight and slowly helps him (she feels slightly useless; she'll never really measure up to Peter) but she fights anyway and suddenly Spiderman turns towards her and freezes and so does she.

"I'm not going to fight you," he whispers.

She doesn't respond.

"Please go away. You don't understand what danger is."

She stays rooted in place.

He sighs. "Your funeral." He swings away.

"Oh, and by the way?" he calls out. "Keeping a secret identity is harder than you think."

She's paralyzed with fear and relief, thinking about what Peter's said and realizing that this masked vigilante can never ever contact Spiderman again, he's more suspicious than she realized he'd be.

She knows the worst thing that could happen is him figuring out who it was behind the mask. She'd hate to see his reaction.

Her logic is scolding her because by being around Spiderman she's playing with fire.

But she's drawn to him like a moth to a flame and there's nothing she can do to stop herself.

What can she do?

After all, she's just a bit rebellious.


	9. Of Dresses and Secrets

**First things first, a disclaimer: I own no part of Spiderman. Still.**

**Secondly, a well overdue apology for being this late. I think you guys deserve it! I just struggled to write this chapter so I wrote it three different times. Hopefully, this one doesn't disappoint...**

**Thirdly! I edited my last chapter thanks to my lovely reviewers who were absolutely correct. Peter Parker isn't known for his overprotectiveness, he's known more for his sweet and awkward side. Maybe my changes fixed things a bit?**

**Fourthly, an apology for the author's note for being so long.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

MJ's turning into a proper adult and that means a proper adult party with proper booze and proper music (the blaring kind that makes you want to book a funeral for your ears) and proper boys (doesn't matter that she's taken) and it also means that her best friend has to be there for it.

Gwen swears.

She hasn't been into drinking since that one traumatic incident last year where she got so drunk she kissed a plant. She knows Peter isn't into drinking much either (a drunk man flying through the city on a piece of thread could be potentially problematic). She didn't want to be the one holding MJ's hair back as she throws up or holding her whole _body_ back when she flings herself at Harry. She'd rather spend a day curled up on her sofa with a good book (and maybe a certain someone's head on her lap) than be sandwiched against a mass of teenage hormones on the dance floor.

And then there was the dress.

Which means shopping.

Which means endless hours of just sitting there and wearing the clothes MJ asks (demands) her to wear and then going shopping for shoes and then makeup and then a trial run at home and then re-shopping and she'd rather kill herself.

She avoids MJ all day.

In hindsight, this should have been so easy to do, seeing as the masked vigilante (she really has to choose a name…) has become master at avoiding New York's favorite superhero.

But MJ is stealthier and sneakier and has the worst of intentions so, naturally, she's hard to avoid and she runs into MJ while hiding behind a pillar in the cafeteria.

"What are you doing there?"

"… Testing the pillar's strength."

"Whatever. Listen, I'm free tonight to go shopping so I was thinking we'd go to that cute little boutique we went to last time, remember? And then next to it, there's that shoe shop and then we can eat dinner in that pizzeria like we did last time, remember? It was so much fun! Remember?"

Gwen doesn't remember any of this. "Yeah."

MJ grins. "Great! We'll go straight from school."

"Um, I can't. Work today."

MJ looks at her suspiciously. "Harry says there's no work on Fridays."

"Oh, I'm staying after to do some extra research… On biologic… bacteria… and their optimum temperature to, uh… increase at an exponential rate."

"Can't you do that another day?"

"No, the lab… is being renovated tomorrow."

"Renovated…?"

"Yup, sorry! Catch you later!"

"Are you avoiding me?"

Gwen splutters for a moment. "No!" With MJ's eyebrow getting raised higher and higher, Gwen squirms. "Maybe…"

"Why?"

"It's just… The shopping! I don't mind shopping, I really don't… but for six hours? I have a life, MJ!"

MJ scoffs at that and Gwen glares before continuing. "You're so overzealous about shopping and I'm just not that into it, and I didn't know how to tell you this earlier, but I don't love shopping as much as you do."

MJ's quiet for a minute. "Jeez, Gwen… I never saw it like that… You don't like shopping?"

"Not as much as you do."

"Well, when you put it that way… I'm sorry."

Gwen smiles warmly. "So shopping trip's called off?"

MJ laughs. "Nope! Suck it up, Stacy. See you in a few hours!"

Gwen groans.

* * *

She whines to Peter about the whole shopping trip that night on the phone.

"… Eleven pairs of shoes, Peter! All the same color! How does it even matter?"

Peter laughs. "You never know, Gwen. One of them might tie your whole outfit together while the other destroys it!"

"Shut up."

"So," he says distractedly. "When's this party?"

"Tomorrow night." She hears a swishing sound. "Going somewhere?"

"Depends. How angry would you be if I told you I was on my way to your house?"

Gwen glances at her sweatshirt and baggy pants. "Considerably. How long will you take?"

Peter sounds breathless. "Three seconds."

"What… Peter!" She spins around to see Spiderman leaning on her window. She can almost see his smirk.

She sighs at her outfit and goes up to open the window and let him in. He grabs her and wraps her in his arms, sighing into her hair. "I missed you," he murmurs.

"So did I."

"Can I see your dress?"

"No!"

Peter smirks. "Gwen… It sucks to be you. Just imagine it, surrounded by sweaty bodies who've drunk themselves into oblivion. Imagine, all the rooms would be occupied by people doing their… dirty deeds." She pinches him.

"And," he continues, "You have to babysit MJ."

Gwen sighs. "My life does suck…"

"Yeah, it does," he agrees easily.

"Hey Pete? … You're invited too."

He swears.

* * *

MJ's running around maniacally, advertising her party to everyone who'd bother to listen, and she's roped Gwen into doing the same.

So Gwen drags herself around, approaching people unenthusiastically to inform them of MJ's party, only to have them tell her that MJ's already told them herself.

She sits herself down in the library after a while, bored and unwilling to continue advertising a known event to everyone. She rests her head on one of the tables and hears someone sit down next to her.

Without looking up, she asks, "You too?"

"Yeah," Harry mumbles. "I think the whole world knows about her party. Why do I have to go around telling everyone?"

Gwen smiles slightly. "Same reason I had to go shopping. Parties are all MJ lives for."

"But why?" he all but whines.

She shrugs and they slip into a comfortable silence for a while.

"Hey Gwen?"

"Yeah?" She looks up distractedly from her book.

He fidgets for a while.

"I…" he trails off and tries again. Gwen raises an eyebrow. He leans forward, looking straight at her. "I know your secret."

Gwen stares at him. "That's creepy. What secret?"

Harry looks slightly put off. "It's not creepy! You know… _that_ one."

"Oh, _that _one."

He looks cautiously around the room. "Howard told me. He wanted to keep you safe. Don't blame him, he didn't know what to do."

Gwen freezes this time. "Harry…" she says slowly. "What secret are you talking about?"

"I know you're the masked vigilante. And I know why."

She's tense. "Oh. So you know about Peter too."

"That he's Spiderman? Yeah. I do."

"Oh."

"And I know that you're doing this as a form of coping about your father's death."

Gwen looks at him. "Leave that subject alone," she advises in a low tone.

"Okay," he agrees, but ploughs on. "I can get you help, Gwen. My friend knows this really good shrink and apparently he works wonders, I can get him in touch with you."

"Why?"

"Because, Gwen, you're giving yourself to danger."

Gwen stiffens. "Have you given this offer to Peter?"

"No…"

"Why not?"

"Peter can take care of himself better than you can… Oh crap, that came out really wrong, I didn't mean it that way…"

"Why?" she asks sharply. "Because he's a guy?"

"Because he's been bitten by a radioactive spider and you haven't."

"I've learnt Karate all my life and he hasn't."

"Still isn't enough to equal things out."

"That's my decision to make."

Harry looks at her seriously. "Yeah, it is."

Gwen sighs. "Who else knows?"

"Nobody, just me. I won't tell."

"Okay."

This silence is considerably more uncomfortable.

"It's all I have, Harry," she says quietly. "It's my way of healing myself. I don't need a shrink. I need this masked vigilante. And I need you to not judge me or tell anyone. Do you think you can do that?"

Harry sighs. "Yeah, Gwen, I can." He leans forward and wraps her in a one armed embrace before letting go.

"Now," he says with a half smile, "Her Royal Highness is waiting for me, so I've gotta run."

And Gwen's left there, sitting in the library, frozen and cursing her brother.

* * *

Gwen meets MJ after a while who complains about her lack of enthusiasm in her party, which makes Gwen laugh (partially because it's true and partially because nobody can take MJ seriously when she whines).

They walk together, interlocked arms, back to MJ's house to do some "pre-party planning".

And Gwen's bored out of her mind but she adores spending time with this girl so she sucks it up for a while and pretends to be interested in what MJ's saying.

MJ sees right through it. "Are you even paying attention to me?"

"Yes!"

"So what do you think?"

"… Yes?"

"I asked you what color best suits the mood of the party."

Gwen smiles sheepishly. "Oops. Purple."

"Eww."

"Blue?"

"Heck no!"

"… Green."

"I'm not throwing a plant party!"

Gwen throws her hands up in the air. "Alright, then! What color do _you_ think will fit the mood?"

MJ thinks about it for a while, sucking her cheeks in. Then she grins. "Fuchsia."

Gwen's about to respond but MJ's mother comes in and Gwen feels slightly queasy.

"Hi, Mrs Watson," she greets.

"Hello there, Gwen," she responds shortly before turning to her daughter. "Mary, your friend Henry is here."

"Harry?" MJ asks tensely.

"Whoever," she dismisses. She turns to leave but quickly turns back. "Mary, he's brought a friend with him, a Patrick or someone. He's a fine young man, maybe you should get to know him, get a bit friendly with him…"

Gwen's wide eyed because she knows MJ's mother only likes well dressed boys and Peter can be anything but.

"Oh, him? Nah, I have a _boyfriend_. Plus, he's Gwen's." MJ turns to smirk at Gwen just as her mother looks at Gwen slightly disapprovingly.

"Shame."

Gwen all but runs out to invite the boys inside. And she freezes in her tracks because Peter's dressed… properly, with a nice, crisp, white shirt and proper black trousers.

"What's the occasion?"

Peter grins at her. "Taking my girl out to dinner tonight."

Gwen blushes. "Really?" She looks down at herself. "I'm barely dressed properly…"

He winks at her just as MJ comes out. "I'm sure MJ can help you find something to wear."

MJ squeals as Gwen flips her finger at Peter.

* * *

They finally manage to escape MJ's house and Peter and Gwen are walking back from dinner, hand in hand.

"I can't believe you asked MJ to help me get dressed…"

He grins apologetically. "If it helps, you look nice…"

"Nice?" she teases.

He blushes. "Gorgeous."

She blushes too.

And he holds her to him for a while, and they stand there, slightly rocking on the spot and Gwen doesn't remember being this happy.

She pulls back slightly to look at him properly, she feels so content, oh so content…

And then she's airborne.

The last thing she sees is Peter's startled face growing smaller and smaller and then she feels a strong blow to her head.

Everything's black.


End file.
